What astonished me was a new comer in my field who *took off, flew circuits including nose-in flights and landed* completely on his own with his heli on his first ever RC flight of any kind ! To my astonished looks, he just said "it is better than the sim" !

PS: I was standing by in trainer mode on a buddy cable, as a safety precaution.

Sim practice is the key to good flying indeed but it is nothing like the real thing. That said myself and numerous people I know have directly gone to flying (of course with a little RC in their blood) a multiplex easy star or equal. The key today is cheap accessible RC hardware which encourages people to fly crash repair and try again this whole idea itself keeps a hobbyist engrossed in the hobby unlike a virtual simulator. Patience is the key to success no doubt but its lacking in todays fast pace world! I for one got a hang of the simulator after flying the real thing 5-6 times with minor crashes and damage. Not surprising at all that the boy learnt take off and landing in an hour! kudos!